Rob Altomonte, Hireko’s Marketing Director sat down with Technical Director Jeff Summitt to discuss the new Acer XV Driver line that just arrived

The Acer XV was derived from our very popular Acer XF driver series. But that is where it stops because we added 3 key features to put the XF on steroids.

2. What is the name XV derived from?

For those who aren’t Roman or haven’t brushed up on your Latin lately, XV is the number 15 like 2015. We didn’t call it 15 because next year and the year after that it won’t be dated as I strongly feel these most likely will be in the line for a while.

3. Speaking of product cycles, it seems you have been introducing a new Acer driver line every two years.

True, we introduced the Acer XF in 2011 and the Acer XS in 2013. Does that mean you can expect a new series in 2017? Not necessarily. Basically we are bringing out new product only when we have something different in terms of new technology, materials or we can introduce a product that will be better in terms of performance than a model we a retiring. With so many USGA regulations on drivers it requires a lot of thought and testing to make improvements.

4. You spoke about 3 key features. Can you let us know what they are and how they will benefit potential customers?

Those are the CNC milled crown, Power Chamber Sole and Gravity port. Let’s start with the crown since that is one that will be the least visual. It is always the quest of a head designer to eliminate unwanted weight so it can be put to better use and that usually starts with the crown on a driver. The lower the center of gravity, the better the performance in terms of launch and spin you can achieve. We could have easily made a shallower face, but then you lose face area and confidence. So we have lightened the crown by CNC machining certain non-stress areas. Yes, it is more expensive to accomplish and something none of our competitors are doing, but in order to make incremental improvements you really have to go the extra steps.

5. What’s up with the Power Chamber?

The Power Chamber sole is a feature that you will immediately notice. This was added to boost performance on shots hit on the lower half of the clubface. This is where excessive spin occurs and the Power Chamber sole helps neutralize the ill effect of low impacts.

6. Can you tell us about the Gravity Port?

As you know screw weighting is not new, but we kind of abandoned that for a time. It is a feature the average customer never messes with, but if you are customizing clubs, you really need the ability to tweak the weight. Hey, we know that not everybody is the same height or requires the same cookie-cutter length. We also know there is more shafts that can go into these drivers than you can shake a stick at. Not all will be the same weight or have the same balance point and with the additional 2 and 12 gram screws allows the clubmaker to fine-tune the swingweight.

The position of the Gravity Port is important. It offers a higher launch and higher moment of inertia where it will benefit far more golfers than the recent trend to move weight forward. The latter may help the pros, but we are true to ourselves and cater to the other 99% of golfers out there.

Plus in the past, we have had offered standard versions, Leggera versions that were lighter and Thrivers that were heavier like we have in the Acer XF and XS lines. Well to a certain degree we can accomplish the same thing and it is not a burden on our customers to stock all those versions.

7. I see these come in a lot of different options.

Yes, we always try to make the Acer lines as comprehensive as possible whenever it is economically feasible to do from a tooling standpoint. With the new XV series we have 4 lofts in right handed and 3 in left handed they should cover just about every golfer. This year we even added a left handed 9.5º after so many southpaws complained we didn’t have one in our lineup. So you can say I caved in and obliged to their wishes and coaxed the powers-to-be to add it as an option.

8. I see there is also a Draw version.

Yes, and this is an important option as so many golfers fight a slice and we want them to enjoy the game and speed up play instead of constantly searching for errant or lost balls. It is really the same as the standard model with all the features I spoke about earlier. The differences are that we have added the offset hosel and made the face angle a degree more closed. Plus as I said earlier the position of the Gravity Port was important because it will help square the face at impact so those that push, fade or slice the ball will have 3 more things going for them to help them hit more fairways – and that is the one they are aiming for.

Rule number 1 is if it doesn’t look good then nobody will want to give it a fair chance. I could tell you it has this feature or that feature which will help you hit longer and straighter drives, but all it takes is the wrong color or some annoying accent to turn a potential buyer from to put on their wish list. The matte black on top of the black PVD finish gives is neutral yet really high-end look. Again, I think this product line will appeal to a lot of golfers and have a long product life cycle.

10. How does it compare to the all the name brand drivers out there?

I go out to a facility that I can hit the latest and greatest from all the major OEMs. You know what? They do make damn good clubs and it would be shocking if they didn’t. But when I go out with our Acer XV driver with a shaft, flex, grip, grip size, length that fits me, I see absolutely no difference in distance or accuracy. We may not have the adjustable feature for lie and face angle or what manufacturers call loft, but the average golfer is likely never to change those from the factory setting and only adds to the cost. I am not sure who said it first, but if you can’t tell the difference then why pay the difference? That’s my philosophy and I am sticking to it.